Photoshop Terms A to Z – Glossary of the Letter “E”

Edge Contrast: Use this option with the Lasso tools to define the Lasso’s sensitivity to the edges of the selection that you’re trying to lasso. Values can range from 1 percent to 100 percent. A lower value detects low-contrast edges (those that don’t have much contrast with their backgrounds), and a higher value detects edges that contrast sharply with their backgrounds. Configuring this prior to and during a selection can make selecting an object manually much more efficient (combine with the Zoom tool for best results).

Edit: From the Edit menu, you can undo the last step taken or “undo an undo” by choosing Step Forward. You can cut, copy, and paste a selection from the clipboard, fill a layer with a color or pattern, check the spelling of text, and transform images in any number of ways. The Edit menu is also the place to configure custom color settings or set preferences for file handling, cursors, the display, transparency and gamut, units and rulers, memory and image cache, and more.

Emulsion Down: When printing, check this box to denote that the paper used is emulsion side down and must be printed the opposite of what is shown on the screen. If this is checked, Photoshop flips the image around so it’ll print correctly.

EPS DCS2: These files are variations of EPS files. DCS stands for Desktop Color Separations file. This file type allows you to save color separations as CMYK files. The DCS2 format also allows you to export images containing spot channels, which regular EPS doesn’t support. To print DCS files, you must have a PostScript printer.

EPS File Format: EPS files are Encapsulated PostScript files and contain both raster- and vector-based images. EPS files can be edited in Adobe Illustrator as well as Photoshop, and some EPS files from third-party clip art companies can be edited in other programs such as CorelDRAW and Arts & Letters.

Eraser tool: Erases to the background layer by dragging the mouse.

EXIF: Information obtained from a digital camera such as date and time, ­resolution, ISO speed rating, f-stop, compression, and exposure time.

Extract: From the Filter menu, this lets you remove an object or objects from an image and works when other options don’t (like the Background Eraser tool or the Magic Eraser tool). With the Extract option, you can trace around an image to select it for removal, using a large highlighter-type pen, fill that area with color, and extract it from the image

Eyedropper tool: Like the Color Sampler tool, this allows you to match a color exactly by clicking on an area of the image and then offers information about that color.

This post is part of the series: Photoshop Terms from A to Z – A Glossary

Learn common and obscure terms used by Adobe Photoshop in this A-to-Z series.